CHAPTER ONE
This can’t be happening. I should have done more to stop this.
Adriana Daniels felt as though her world was slipping out from under her, tilting and careening, as she knocked on the door to her dead sister’s mansion.
Dead. Her sister, Jordan, was dead. Ever since she’d received the call, she felt as though she was walking through a fog.
Mrs. Clement, the friendly housekeeper who was more like family, answered the door. “Oh, my dear,” the elderly woman said, pulling Adriana into a tight hug. “I am so sorry.”
“I got here as quickly as I could. He did this, didn’t he?” was all Adriana could whisper. “He killed her. I know he did.”
Mrs. Clement held Adriana at arm’s length. “Right now, the police seem to be agreeing with Henry that she fell down the stairs by accident, but I heard Henry and Jordan arguing right before she died. I think he pushed her.”
Anger toward her brother-in-law flamed within Adriana. “I knew he was abusing her all this time. I should have tried harder to convince her to leave with Megan.”
“You did everything you could. She made it clear she wouldn’t leave. I think she was afraid he’d kill her if she did.”
Adriana nodded in agreement. “Is she… Is she still in there?” she asked in a shaky voice, part of her not wanting to know the answer.
“Yes, but they are about to take her away.”
Mrs. Clement stepped aside, and Adriana willed herself to move forward. Adriana barely noticed the police milling around the house as she made her way inside. On a gurney, beneath a white sheet, was her sister’s body. Before she realized what was happening, Adriana was running.
“I’m sorry, Jordan. I’m so sorry,” Adriana sobbed, reaching out to touch her sister’s body. “I tried. I should have done more.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I have to ask you to step back,” an officer said, holding his hand up to stop her from touching Jordan’s body. “This is an official death investigation. Can I get your name, relationship to the deceased, and contact information for the detectives?”
She gave him the information as guilt moved into her heart and made a home there, growing with each passing second. Would it ever leave?
Adriana caught movement in the corner of her eye. Megan, her thirteen-year-old niece, stood at the top of the stairs, her light blonde hair falling around her shoulders in waves.
Adriana had been so focused on her own pain that she’d almost forgotten how much more Megan must be hurting. The poor girl had just lost her mother, and her stepfather clearly didn’t care about her.
“Angel!” Megan called, arms open, and Adriana’s heart warmed a bit at the nickname Megan had called Adriana since she was a child, when she’d been unable to say “Adriana.”
Adriana hurried up the stairs, embracing her niece into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Megan.”
“This isn’t your fault,” the girl said in a small voice.
It felt like it was.
“I can’t believe she’s gone. Now I’m all alone here. I wish I could come live with you. I hate it here, living with my stepfather. With Mom gone, I don’t want to be here with him anymore.”
“I know, sweetie. But I can’t just take you away. Henry would call the police and tell them I kidnapped you. Has he hurt you?”
“No. He never hurt me, only Mom. I don’t think he will. He just ignores me or yells at me, and I feel so alone. At least I have Mrs. Clement.” Megan sniffed and pulled away, and they went into Megan’s room and shut the door.
For several minutes, Megan and Adriana held each other, sobbing. Finally, Megan wiped her tears and pulled away.
“Did you see what happened?” Adriana asked.
“No. I was in here doing homework. I heard them arguing, then I put on headphones to listen to music. But I know he pushed her down the stairs.” Megan fingered the heart-shaped pendant that hung around her neck, a nervous habit. “He’s almost done it before.”
Adriana nodded. “I think he did, too. So does Mrs. Clement.”
“How can we prove it?”
“I don’t know,” Adriana said. “I’ll figure out a way.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Open this door,” a male voice said. Henry sounded calm, but Adriana knew that if there were not people downstairs, he would use his normal booming voice.
Megan’s eyes widened with terror, as if Henry had tried to break the door down. “We better do it.”
Though Adriana wanted to hide under the bed like a child, she went to the door and opened it.
Henry, her late sister’s husband and Megan’s stepfather, stood in the doorway, disdain in his coal-gray eyes. “Of course, you’re in here. I don’t want you filling Megan’s head with nonsense. You need to leave right now.”
“You’re going to make me leave my sister’s house after what just happened? I came to pay my respects.”
“And conspire with this one,” Henry said, gesturing toward Megan dismissively. “Her mother just died from a horrible accident. Let her grieve in peace.”
“Accident?” Adriana whispered. Though she trembled inside with fear, she refused to show it as she took a step closer to him, standing inches from his nose. “We all know this was no accident and that you abused Jordan for your entire marriage.”
Henry snorted. “And who do you think the jury will believe? A job-hopping barista or me, Jordan’s successful, wealthy husband, who is now a CEO of a large software company?” He put an emphasis on the word ‘wealthy’ as though reminding her he could bribe his way to innocence.
No. She would find a way. She had to.
Sure, being a barista was not her ideal career, but it paid the bills. Her sister had offered to lend her money before she died, but Adriana had been too prideful to admit defeat. The truth was that Adriana had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, while her sister had been the wealthy owner of a software company. If their parents were alive, she was sure they would be prouder of Jordan, and Adriana wouldn’t blame them.
But they were all gone now—Adriana’s parents had died a few years ago when she and Jordan had been in their early twenties. All she had left was Megan.
And all Megan had was Adriana.
“And yes, in case you are wondering, I inherited everything, according to Jordan’s will. Here, take a look if you want to.” Henry thrust the paper toward Adriana, and her eyes skimmed over it, stating that Henry did indeed inherit the software company, the estate…and custody of Megan.
She shoved the paper back to him. “Let me take Megan home with me. You and I both know you don’t really want her here. We’ll all be happier if she’s with me.”
“No. She stays here.”
“Why?” Adriana and Megan both demanded.
“Right now, I have custody of her. As I said, there’s no way the court would grant custody to you over me. If you take her now, I’ll call the police and tell them you kidnapped her.”
Of course. Just as she’d expected. Adriana turned to Megan. “You and I will be together soon,” she said with determination.